Five for Friday: Freebie Frame!

Happy Friday!

Not only is Friday finally here...it's also Pajama Day at school &
the kick-off to a 3-day weekend!

I'm linking up this post with Kacey from Doodle Bugs Teaching:

5. LOVE Mural

We are so lucky to have 2 amazing art teachers at our school. We have almost 700 students in Grades K-4...one art teacher works with K-2 and the other teacher splits Grade 2 and teaches 3rd and 4th. These two talented teachers do so many extra curricular art-related projects, including sponsoring a LOVE mural project:

Each brick above features something to do with love. 

I had one student write "Reading, Learning, and Family" ♥

4. Our final Fountas & Pinnell Guided Reading Benchmark Assessment is due June 6th. I'm waiting to the very last minute to test my students. I'm hoping to squeak out as much growth as possible! To engage these summer-loving-crazy-excited almost second-graders in reading, I'm pulling out ALL the stops:

Decoding Strategy Beanie Babies!

Finger Lights!

3. We are also finishing up our year end NWEA Tests. So far, 100% of my students have made their growth goal for the year in Math and Reading!!! I'm incredibly proud and excited for them! Here's my last bulletin board of the school year celebrating their success:

A full blurry view

A closer-up (still blurry) view

2. Common Core Comprehension

As a special educator, I pull small groups and push in to classrooms. I finish every day teaching a 30 minute Comprehension block in one first grade classroom. This past unit (Unit 5) has been my ALL time favorite unit - we've been working on it for two months and most days it's been the highlight of my teaching day! 

I parallel-teach the block with the general educator. She has a group of 15 (on-level and above) and I work with 10 students (on-level and below). We both have our own set of books and materials, yet we're teaching the same lesson. My materials often include more visuals and guided practice. We both use turn & talks and the same "show what you know" written response assessment. 

Unit 5 was all about American Contributors and we explored informational and literary texts about Harriet Tubman, Abraham Lincoln, Rosa Parks, Martin Luther King, Jr., and Jackie Robinson. I wish you could have been there to participate in our thoughtful conversations! It was both heartbreaking and inspiring to hear my students' responses to slavery and segregation. 100% of my students are African American and it was very hard to convince them that not all white people are "mean" :(

We had so many meaningful conversations about character and race...pretty awesome for 6 and 7 year olds and very special for this educator!

So yesterday, we wrapped up our end-of-unit assessment and had a few extra minutes. One of my sweet students raised her hand and asked if I was white. I looked at my group of 10 and asked "What do you all think?" I received the most interesting responses... 2 of my students thought I was white, 4 of my students were defending me and saying "NO! She's not white, she's just light-skinned," 1 student described me as "pink" (and another agreed), and 2 seemed unsure or too bashful to say.

What do you think? I'm pretty sure that half of them knew I was white (I am). You should have seen their reactions...they felt so sorry for me! One of my students whispered to me "It's okay."

I was amazed at their response! 

What would you have done in this situation?

I'm still processing all of it!

1. These last few weeks are getting insanely busy. Our last day is June 17th and there's SO much to be done! I know it doesn't make any sense, but I've been "treating myself" to dealing with all the stress by teaching myself how to turn my doodles into clipart. Yes, the timing is terrible, but the creative outlet is really saving the day! I'm procrastinating on all my paperwork, but I figure it's a more productive stress-reliever than eating chocolate :)

Here's my latest creation...I was trying to build a frame that would match my blog theme. I ♥ my blog design, but it's been challenging to find digital elements to match!

Here's my first try:

What do you think? Please click here to download your own frame (white center). I'd love to hear how it looks on your end...I'm still new at this! Thank you!

I also linked up this freebie with:


and

Have a wonderful weekend!